Efficient misincorporation by avian myeloblastosis virus reverse transcriptase in the presence of a single deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate.

Misincorporation by avian myeloblastosis virus reverse transcriptase in the presence of a single deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate was studied using 32P-labeled DNA primers annealed to the appropriate template DNA, and polyacrylamide-urea gel electrophoresis to measure the extension of the primer chains. With most primer-template combinations, greater than 50% of the primers were extended by the addition of a single incorrect nucleotide onto the end of the primer chain. Unexpectedly, one primer-template combination was not extended in the presence of dCTP, although misincorporation occurred with the other deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates. In another case, terminal misincorporation of two rather than one dT residue was observed. The primer termini containing unpaired nucleotides were efficiently extended upon addition of the other three deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates, even in the case where the primer terminus contained two unpaired nucleotides. Misincorporation was confirmed by direct sequence analysis. These results indicate that the frequency of mutations following misincorporation by reverse transcriptase in the presence of a single deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate should be sufficiently high to allow detection of mutants by simple screening procedures. An analysis of the sequence of a mutant resulting from misincorporation at the M13mp2 AvaII site revealed that following introduction of the DNA into Escherichia coli cells, mismatch repair preceded replication.